About

What We Do

The PPD ARO has deep commitment to improving the reproductive health and rights in collaborating and partner countries, in strategic partnership with NGOs and other civil society organizations. The Africa Regional Office links African member countries who each have a strong commitment to the partnership’s vision- a continent that meets its reproductive health needs, promotes the population and development agenda and thereby address poverty, through South-South cooperation.

In 2006, the Board of Partners in Population and Development demonstrated its commitment to intensify its activities in Africa by establishing a regional presence. This response recognized the particularly strong needs for both human and financial resources to help the people of Africa get out of the current poverty trap. The Africa Regional Office opened in February 2007 in Kampala, Uganda with the mandate to coordinate a renewed and concerted effort to realize the Vision of “a continent that meets its reproductive health needs, promotes the population and development agenda and thereby addresses poverty, through south-south cooperation.”

Mission: PPD Africa, as part of the global South-South inter-governmental alliance, provides a platform for the promotion of and resource mobilization for Reproductive Health, Population and Development in Africa through three elements:

Policy dialogue;

Networking and building strategic partnerships in the region and;

Sharing of experiences and good practices.

Why We Do It

The impetus for the PPD Africa Regional Office came from a growing understanding throughout the African Union that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) cannot be met without a renewed focus on family planning, population and the reproductive health of women.

The people of Africa, especially its women, children and youth, continue to suffer in abject poverty and dehumanizing conditions, foremost among which is an unparalleled burden of disease. At the same time, they face the special perils of the twenty-first century: urbanization of unprecedented speed, especially the growth of horrendous urban slums; and, of course, the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

A woman and her daughter in Amhara Region, EthiopiaAmongst the most severe impediments to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is the dual burden of Africa’s exceedingly high birth rate and the very poor reproductive health (RH) conditions of so many of the continent’s people, especially the women. It is very clearly understood today that achievement of nearly all the MDGs depends upon success in achieving the principal goal of the landmark Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo, Egypt in 1994: universal access to reproductive health services. Unless people, especially women, are able to achieve full control over their own reproduction and to achieve a good state of reproductive health, it will be nearly impossible to meet such MDGs as reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, achieving universal primary school enrolment, ending hunger, improving the environment, rolling back the AIDS pandemic, or, indeed, significantly reducing the proportion of people living in extreme poverty. All these goals depend upon slower rates of population growth and healthier, more productive women.

African leaders have recognized the great need for improved reproductive health and rights on the continent. In Gabarone in 2005, African Heads of State adopted the Continental Policy Framework for the Promotion of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Africa at the annual meeting, showcasing their commitment. This framework was based on an action plan prepared by technical experts of the Africa Union, assisted by the UNFPA, WHO and IPPF and adopted by African Ministers of Health in Maputo in September 2006. South-South cooperation has been highlighted as one of the key routes for the attainment of the objectives of the Framework and the Plan of Action.

Partners in Population and Development (PPD) is a Southern-led, Southern-run inter-governmental organization with deep commitment to improving the reproductive health and rights in collaborating and partner countries, in strategic partnership with NGOs and other civil society organizations.

PPD established the Africa Regional Office (ARO) in Kampala, Uganda in early 2007 to intensify its South-South activities in Africa. The mandate of the Africa Regional Office is to coordinate a renewed and concerted effort to realize the Vision of “a continent that meets its reproductive health needs, promotes the population and development agenda and thereby addresses poverty, through south-south cooperation.”

To fulfil its vision and mission, PPD undertakes policy dialogue to ensure that reproductive health rises on the development agenda both nationally and internationally, and to carry out advocacy for increased reproductive health commodities and supplies. PPD will also promote the concept of South-South cooperation. The PPD ARO focuses on networking and building strategic partnerships in the region by increasing the number of countries in Africa involved in south-south cooperation and strengthening their capacity. PPD shares experiences and good practices of governments and civil society within the region by documenting and disseminating good practices as well as mobilizing new and increasing the efficiency of existing human and financial resources in the region. But above all, the PPD ARO is committed to making a difference in the lives of Africans through the promotion and delivery of effective RH programs and policies throughout the continent.

Who We Are

The PPD Africa Regional Office is part of a global South-South alliance of 25 developing countries. The Africa Regional Office is located in Kampala, Uganda, and the Secretariat for PPD is in Dhaka, Bangladesh. PPD receives funding from all member countries, as well as donors.

works through the modality of South-South Cooperation in the areas of reproductive health and population and development;

was founded based on the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), Cairo, 1994;

currently has 25 member countries (more than half of the world’s population), who exhibit their commitment through Ministerial-level Board representation and paying annual membership contributions; and

is a Permanent Observer at the UN and has diplomatic status in Bangladesh and Uganda.

More information on PPD can be found on the website for the PPD Secretariat: http://www.partners-popdev.org/

The Africa Regional Office (PPD ARO)

The PPD ARO links 15 African countries who are members of PPD. The organization works through three strategies:

Policy dialogue;

Networking and building strategic partnerships in the region; and

Sharing of experiences and good practices.

History

Partners in Population and Development (PPD) is a Southern-led, Southern-run inter-governmental organization with deep commitment to improving the reproductive health and rights in collaborating and partner countries, in strategic partnership with NGOs and other civil society organizations. PPD was founded with ten country members in 1995 to promote south-south cooperation in reproductive health and population and development.

The membership has steadily grown to 24 countries which collectively encompass more than half the population of the entire globe. Fourteen of these countries are in Africa. Each member country is committed to the Partners’ ideals and pays an annual membership fee as a demonstration of that commitment.

Following the Millennium Summit in 2000, which resulted in the eight MDGs, PPD moved swiftly to address not only the goals of the ICPD to which it had been committed since 1994, but also the linkages between reproductive health and population issues and the MDGs. Moreover, the PPD Board, comprised of ministers from each of the member states, recognized that the MDGs could not possibly be met unless the reproductive and population needs of Africa received much higher priority. Progress towards universal access to reproductive health has been made in member countries, but unfortunately, it has been uneven. Furthermore, the concept, benefits and modalities of south-south cooperation are not well understood and appreciated, particularly in and among African countries. Consequently, South-South cooperation modalities are underutilized and their full potential is not realized.

For these reasons, in a major strategic adjustment, the PPD Board decided to manifest PPD’s commitment to intensify its activities in Africa by establishing a special regional presence. And in early 2007 PPD opened its Africa Regional Office (ARO) in Kampala, Uganda with the mandate to coordinate a renewed and concerted effort to realize the Vision of “a continent that meets its reproductive health needs, promotes the population and development agenda and thereby addresses poverty, through south-south cooperation.”

Members

Read about and contact PPD’s Partners’ Country Coordinators (PCCs) in PPD member countries

Governance

PPD is governed by a Board of Ministers or other high-ranking government officials in the field of population and development from all member countries. PPD Board Members’ responsibilities include advocacy, resource mobilization, and general governance oversight.

Funding

All member countries demonstrate their political commitment to Partners in Population and Development (PPD) through annual membership dues of at least $20,000 and representation at the ministerial level at the annual PPD Board meetings. The activities of the PPD ARO have been supported by development partners such as The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Gates Foundation, the Regional Network for Equity in Health in East and Southern Africa (EQUINET), the African Population Health Research Centre (APHRC), Venture Strategies for Health and Development, the German Foundation for World Population (Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevoelkerung–DSW), Population Action International (PAI) and the Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition.

In addition, the Government of Uganda has been a key player to the success of the PPD ARO’s activities, as it not only contributes as a regular member to PPD, but also officially provides office space and key services (a Secretary seconded to the PPD ARO, utilities and tax-free status) in accordance with a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in 2007.

PPD ARO Staff

Dr. Jotham Musinguzi
Regional Director
PPD Africa Regional Office

Dr. Jotham Musinguzi is currently the Regional Director of the Partners in Population and Development (PPD) Africa Regional Office in Kampala, Uganda. Dr. Musinguzi is a Public Health Physician who until February 2007 was Director of Uganda’s Population Secretariat, housed in the Ministry of Finance, Uganda. Dr. Musinguzi is currently a Trustee of both the Population Council of New York as well as the Commonwealth Medical Association Trust. He is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Population Services International (PSI) Uganda and is a Board Member of the Africa Population and Health Research Centre (APHRC) based in Nairobi, Kenya.

In the past, Dr. Musinguzi has been a senior lecturer in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology of Makerere University. He has been President of Uganda Medical Association; Chairman of International Council on Management of Population Programmes (ICOMP), based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Until recently, he has served as a Board Member and Honorary Treasurer of Partners in Population and Development.

Dr. Musinguzi had his initial education in Makerere University Medical School in Uganda, where he obtained his first degree in medicine and then later a master’s degree in Obstetrics & Gynaecology before proceeding to the United States to study public health at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany.

Since the late 1980s, Dr. Musinguzi’s main interests have been in reproductive health (RH) and family planning (FP), as well HIV/AIDS.

Dr. Musinguzi has represented Uganda on most major international meetings, including United Nations Summits in the fields of RH, FP and HIV/AIDS. Some of these meetings include the international Safe Motherhood Conference in Nairobi in 1987; the World Summit for Children in New York in 1990; the UN Preparatory Committee Meetings (Prepcoms) of the ICPD in New York; the landmark International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo, Egypt in 1994; the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China in 1995; the World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1995; the World Food Summit in Rome in 1996; the UN Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) in Istanbul, Turkey in 1996; and the Millennium Summit in New York in 2000, among others. Dr. Musinguzi has also attended many of the follow-up meetings to these and other international summits and meetings.

In all these meetings and other public appearances, Dr. Musinguzi has consistently and strongly advocated for inclusion of strong and clear language on reproductive health and HIV/AIDS in the various official documents, including those of the United Nations and other international agencies, and has endeavoured that reproductive health and HIV/AIDS remain high on the development agenda.

Mr. Abdelylah Lakssir is a Programme Officer (International) at the Partners in Population and Development Africa Regional Office. He has more than 20 years of experience in the management of reproductive health programs. From 1998 to September 2008, he was the Head of the Evaluation Unit at the Family Planning Department at the Ministry of Health, Morocco. He has also worked on study design and analysis for operations research projects at MEASURE Evaluation at Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. Mr. Lakssir holds bachelor’s degrees in Sociology and Biostatistics and Demography from the Mohamed V University, Rabat, Morocco and the School of Public Health, Rabat, Morocco, respectively. He has a MPH from Tulane University, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. He communicates in Arabic, French, and English fluently.

Mr. Patrick Mugirwa is a Programme Officer at the Partners in Population and Development Africa Regional Office. He has over 8 years of practical experience in designing, implementing and evaluating development programs including education, health, sexual and reproductive health, family planning and HIV/ AIDS. He was a co-facilitator in developing the GOU/UNFPA 5th Country Programme (2001 – 2005) monitoring and evaluation framework for reproductive health. As senior officer in the department for monitoring and evaluation at the Population Secretariat in 2002, he was in charge of developing participatory reporting; monitoring and evaluation frameworks for UNFPA supported projects. He spearheaded the development of the Uganda AFFORD Performance Monitoring Plan and oversaw its implementation as a Research, Monitoring and Evaluation Manager at AFFORD/UHMG. His strengths include social research and analysis (quantitative and qualitative), monitoring and evaluation, impact assessments. He holds a post graduate diploma in Project Cycle Management from Maastricht School of Management, The Netherlands; a bachelor’s degree in Economics and a master’s degree in Economic Policy and Planning from Makerere University, Uganda.

Mrs. Nambatya is a Programme Officer at the Partners in Population and Development Africa Regional Office. She is a demographer with a Master of Science in Population and Reproductive Health from Makerere University, a Post-Graduate Diploma in Project Planning and Management at Uganda Management Institute and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Population Studies from Makerere University. Previously Mrs. Nambatya worked with the Population Secretariat in the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Uganda where she served as the National Programme Officer in the Family Health Department. Mrs. Nambatya has a deep passion and commitment to reproductive health, population and development. She has written and presented a number of papers and articles on male involvement in family planning service provision, integration of RH in HIV/AIDS, adolescent sexual reproductive health, maternal mortality in Uganda and the need to plan for Uganda’s increasing population. She has also been involved in advocacy with members of Parliament as well as behavior change communication (BCC) interventions on family planning, maternal health and HIV/AIDS programmes in communities.

Mr. Davidson Okot is the Finance and Administration Officer for the Partners in Population and Development Africa Regional Office. In addition to managing the office’s finances, he provides administrative and logistical support to the office. Mr. Okot has seven years of experience in auditing and taxation and over 11 years of experience as an accountant and administrator. He has a Master of Science in Finance and Accounting, a Bachelor of Business Studies in Accounting (first class honors), a Diploma in Business Studies, and is a fully Certified Public Accountant. Before joining PPD ARO in December 2009, he worked as the Finance and Administration Manager for MAP International USA, a Treasury Accountant at Toyota Uganda, a Senior Accountant for Mantrac Uganda, and the Chief Accountant for the German Development Service (DED) Rhinocamp/Imvepi Refugee Settlement.

Ms. Charity Birungi is the Partners in Population and Development Africa Regional Office’s Secretary/Administrative Assistant. Her position is supported by the Population Secretariat, Government of Uganda. She holds a diploma in Business Administration from Nkumba University, Uganda. From 2005 to 2006, she was the Administrative Assistant for the Uganda Country Office of the Policy Project, Futures Group. Previously, she worked for the World Food Program in Kigali, Rwanda, and also accumulated years of administrative experience working for a number of private corporations in Uganda. In addition to fluency in English, she speaks two Ugandan languages.

Mr. Matovu Francis
Driver
PPD Africa Regional Office

Mr. Matovu is a Partners in Population and Development Africa Regional Office’s Driver. Previously Mr. Matovu worked with the Population Secretariat in the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Uganda where he most recently served as the Driver to Dr. Jotham Musinguzi, during his tenure as the Director of Uganda’s Population Secretariat.

Mr. Kawuma Lawrence
Driver
PPD Africa Regional Office

Mr. Lawrence is a driver for Partners in Population and Development Africa Regional Office. Previously Mr. Lawrence worked as a private-sector driver for 13 years.